Vanity and Vibrators
by Veata
Summary: Draco Malfoy is a recently single and very popular actor, and he knows it. Hermione Granger works for a sex toy company and has had quite enough of controlling boyfriends. The two meet during an Oscars after-party and hit it off. But will the paparazzi's vicious hunt for gossip ruin their chance for a relationship? Or will the past sneak up and destroy everything they hold dear?
1. Chapter 1

A loud ringing interrupted a young woman's peaceful floating in grey clouds and brought her back to reality. Reality was not nearly as soft as those grey clouds. Brown eyes opened in annoyance and glared at the night stand next to her.

Her cell phone continued blaring the obnoxiously loud alarm, reminding her that it was time to get up, get ready, and get her ass to work. She silenced the alarm with a swipe of the finger, then stretched languorously like a cat, taking up the entire bed in the process.

"Hermione! Where did you put the bread?!" A confused voice called from the kitchen.

Hermione Granger sighed, the rush of air blowing curly brown locks out of her face. She did not want to get up just yet. Her roommate, Ginny, was forever unorganized and could not find anything unless it was spread out on the floor in front of her.

The brown haired young woman stood, a little off balance as all of the blood drained from her head, and headed for her bedroom door. She didn't know how Ginny managed to survive all these years if she couldn't even find food in a cupboard.

She opened the bedroom door. "Third cupboard on the right, Ginny," she called back. There was a sound of some rummaging and a soft "Ah ha!" once the hopeless red head had found the loaf of bread Hermione had purchased yesterday. Hermione closed the bedroom door and headed for the en suite bathroom to begin her morning ritual. Before she could make it there, she noticed her cell phone screen light up.

Hermione walked back over to the nightstand and picked up her phone. There was a text from Ron that said "talked 2 hairy, he will call u l8r". Hermione rolled her eyes and put the phone down without responding. She slipped into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

Waiting for the water to warm up, she frowned. Her, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter had been the best of friends throughout high school and university. Her and Ron had started dating about two months ago after years of crushing on one another...and broken up shortly after. Ron's spelling skills left a lot to be desired, but that had not been the reason for their break up. He was very nice and very sweet, a welcome change from her creepy ex-boyfriend Victor Krum. He had been the perfect relationship after the nightmare with Krum, but not the man she needed for the rest of her life. Her and Krum's relationship had ended in police involvement; it hadn't been pretty. Ron Weasely had been kind, polite, patient...and boring. Hermione had ended it when she realized she was not sexually attracted to him, and while he had been devastated at first, they still remained close friends, along with Harry.

Ron's text was referring to a court date she had coming up, for which Harry was her defense lawyer. Apparently there was some update on the situation she needed to be informed of. Whatever it was, it would have to wait until after this weekend. Hermione stepped into the warm spray of the shower and began her day.

An hour later and she was walking quickly down the loud and bustling streets of New York, headed for work. She was grateful she had worn flats today – she had missed the subway and trying to walk the ten blocks from her apartment to work in heels always gave her blisters. She picked up the pace, walking as quickly as possible in a black pencil skirt. She hated being late.

Hermione breezed through the glass doors of the towering office building with five minutes to spare. Taking the elevators up to the tenth floor, she trotted down the wood-paneled hallway and turned right. Two glass doors stood before her bearing a non-descript blocky logo and the words "Internal Solutions". The office was specifically designed to give nothing away to an outsider.

Pushing through the doors, she hurried to her desk and started setting up for the day. She had made it with one minute to spare. She fired up her computer and put the headset for the phone on. Once she was settled into her chair, she opened the first of 60 emails she had received overnight.

_"My husband and I tried out the Mantra last night and found that after 30 minutes, it still could not get me to come. I want a refund, now."_

Ignoring the pushiness of the woman, Hermione cut and pasted the response from her 30 page document of canned responses into her reply. Specifically, that Internal Solutions, one of the top manufacturer's of dildos and vibrators in the United States, did not offer refunds.

Her mother just about had a stroke on the spot when Hermione had told her where she had accepted a position. She was almost a mirror image of Hermione's, only thirty years older, and her dark eyes had opened wide before closing in disbelief. Her father had been torn between congratulations for getting an excellent starting position right out of university, and admonishment for accepting a position at a sex-toy company. She had pointed out that they should have expected this when she had started studying sexology in university. They had since come to terms with her job, but they still wished for her to work somewhere a little...classier._ Like where?_ She wondered. Internal Solutions was a very classy company.

She was working customer service involving responding to the public via the phone and email. She was one of three on the customer service team and had enjoyed her position at Internal Solutions for the past year. Hermione found that every day at work was different and usually quite entertaining, no matter how many bleeding penis's she received calls about._ Is penis already plural? Penii? _She mused.

"Hermione! Are you all packed yet?" A black haired, brown skinned young woman practically danced into Hermione's cubicle. Hermione finished answering the email before turning to her coworker and friend that was practically vibrating with excitement, no pun intended.

"Hey, Parvati," she greeted. "I just started last night; I haven't had a chance to finish all my laundry. What time do we fly out tomorrow?"

Parvati thought for a moment, her slender frame gracefully coming to a halt while she pondered. "Well, our flight leaves at 10 a.m," she considered for a moment, twining a long, black lock of hair around her finger. "So we should probably be at the airport for 9 a.m at the absolute latest. Going through security will take forever. I'm so excited!" She bounced up and down briefly before staring at Hermione with a maniac grin.

Hermione frowned slightly. She was NOT a morning person. "Okay. 9 a.m it is," she agreed reluctantly. "Make sure you let Fleur know too – we can all meet at the main entrance. And for goodness sake, calm down! I've never been to L.A before and you have, and you're more excited than I am!"

Parvati nodded. "I'll go tell Fleur right now!" She exclaimed, ignoring Hermione's insistence that she calm down. Parvati raced out of the cubicle and bolted down the corridor, too excited to contain herself.

Hermione's cubicle mate, a straw-blonde woman named Luna Lovegood in charge of product distribution, looked up dreamily from the salad she was eating. "L.A?" she asked mistily. "Why are you three going to L.A?"

"Um," Hermione faltered. Luna was so spacey sometimes. "The Oscars are happening this weekend...so Parvati, Fleur, Minerva, and I are all going to the after party. We're handing out samples to promote our products, remember? You organized all the samples and gift bags last week..."

The Oscars was a very big event for the company – the publicity would be huge. Hermione and Parvati, two of the three on the customer service team, were leaving for the weekend to attend the after party at the Oscars and personally hand out free products to celebrities. Fleur, the marketing manager, and Minerva, their head of public relations, were also coming along to make sure everything went smoothly and to do some networking.

Luna nodded and went back to gazing lovingly at her salad without responding. Hermione turned back to emails, wondering for the thousandth time what Luna was on.

VVVVVVV

Bright, flashing lights and the sounds of shutters snapping interrupted his train of thought. Dove grey eyes snapped to his left, a look of annoyance clear. The paparazzi ignored the silent threat and continued on taking as many pictures as possible.

_How fucking interesting could eating a hamburger really be?! _The young man thought in annoyance. Anytime he went out the cameras followed. He knew that this would happen when he decided to take the career path of an actor, but he really didn't expect to have every meal, every shopping trip, every public bathroom visit documented for the world to see. He briefly toyed with the idea of eating like he was in a burger-eating contest, but figured his publicist would probably yell at him about it. He decided not to give the poor man another heart attack. He had enough to deal with this week what with the break up and all.

"Draco! Draco over here! Draco! Hey!"

They were shouting at him, trying to get him to face the camera so they could get a clear shot. One good shot to sell to the highest bidder; probably some teen magazine like Lion Beat. Probably with some ridiculous headline like, "Draco Drowns Break-Up Misery with Comfort Food."

He was kind to his fans and didn't mind the pictures when it was a clear, public event he was attending for the sole purpose of being in the public eye. The occasional following during a shopping trip or fancy dinner hadn't bothered him either. Ever since the trailer release for his latest movie and the announcement of his split from Pansy Parkinson, however, things had gotten markedly more and more aggressive.

_Like the guy at the urinal last week_, he mused. Some moron paparazzi had decided to try and sneak a picture of his junk while next to him at the urinal. Fortunately for Draco, he hadn't been very sneaky about it and he had managed to zip up and hightail it out of there, dignity and modesty intact. The levels that they were sinking to were starting to become alarming.

The break up with Pansy had been a good idea, both personally and professionally. She was going downhill fast, the kind of celebrity-downhill-shaved-head-and-rehab that you don't recover from. She was no longer the person he had been attracted to and he didn't want to go down on that sinking ship with her.

He finished his lunch and left, sliding on his sunglasses as the paparazzi followed him on his walk back to his apartment. It was a gorgeous, sunny day in L.A and he had decided to walk rather than take his car. He was beginning to regret that decision once the shouting got more personal.

"Draco! How are you feeling after the break up? Did Pansy give you the ring back? Did she cheat on you? Did you on her? What rehab centre is she attending?"  
"Where is the ring Draco? Did you pawn it? Did she?"  
"Draco what about heroin found in her car? Was it hers, yours, both of yours? Are you attending rehab as well?"  
"Draco!"

He put his head down and quickened his pace, annoyed with the questions. The ring was their biggest concern; Pansy was no longer wearing it and no pawn shop in town had reported anyone trying to sell it. And nor would they. Pansy had thrown the $500,000 ring down the drain when he had broken up with her. It was lost to the sewers of L.A, but he was not going to tell the public that. Pansy had enough stories ruining her image as it was without him revealing her drug-induced break up antics.

He was glad to be done with her. He was well known for being flirty with fans, coworkers, TV show hosts, pretty much anything with a pulse, though he had been very committed to Pansy. He had felt she understood him like no one else and they had been happy together for three years. He had even recently proposed. With her addiction, however, she had soon changed for the worse and he had no longer felt the connection he once had.

Now, however, he was a free man and was definitely on his way up. His latest film, an adaption from a very popular book series, had made him a heart throb from young women everywhere. Okay, so his fans were mostly high school girls. There were still a large chunk of women in their early 20s, his age, who had surely read the books. Or so he hoped. He desperately needed a good lay and was not going to risk the fan not being of legal age. That would probably cost him his career and a bunch of legal problems he really did not want.

Still, he really needed a good bedmate. Or at least a good flirter. Once he had gotten engaged he had been flirting less and less, ready to be with only one woman for the rest of his life. Now that it was over, his flirting ways came back in full force.

He brightened when he remembered the Oscars were this weekend. There were bound to be plenty of cute and young actresses to flirt with, not to mention producers, directors, script writers, the list goes on. Oh yes, this weekend was suddenly looking very promising indeed.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Holy crap! I wasn't expecting the wave of support and story followers that would come with the first chapter. I'm glad you are all enjoying it! Thank you!

*******

"Hermione! Come on! We're going to miss the flight!"

Hermione sighed and finished zipping up her flower-patterned luggage. Parvati was excited to the point of exaggeration, shifting from foot to foot and playing with the edge of her black pea coat. They had decided to be at the airport for 9 a.m yesterday, but Parvati had shown up at Hermione's apartment at 8:15 sharp, with a half-asleep Minerva in a dark green windbreaker and a very disgruntled-looking Fleur in tow.

"Why do 'e haf to be zere so eurly?!" Fleur demanded, tossing long platium-blonde hair back in frustration. "Ze plane does not leave for annuzzer two 'ours!" She glared at Parvati with bright blue eyes accentuated by the blue trench coat she was wearing.

"Because we have to go through security and find the gate! It might take longer than we expect!" Parvati shot back. She tapped her foot impatiently. "Come on Hermione!"

"What happened to meeting AT the airport?" Hermione mused, carrying her flowery luggage and leather purse into the entrance way of her apartment. She noticed Ginny on their couch, a lovely black leather recliner they had purchased together, staring at Parvati and Fleur with rapt attention.

"Yes! I would like to know zis too!" Fleur shot at Parvati, glaring at the other woman. Minerva eyed the two nervously but wisely decided not to step in.

Parvati turned away and ignored her, continuing to tap her blat flats impatiently. Ginny, who had been watching the exchange with rapt attention, decided that Parvati was probably not going to fight with Fleur and sighed in disappointment. She still didn't like the woman, even if she WAS married to her older brother Bill.

Hermione retrieved her coat from the closet and glanced at herself in the mirror next to the door. Her brown hair was unruly, as usual, and wet from being abruptly interrupted during her morning preparations by Parvati obnoxiously ringing the buzzer. It would have to do. She pulled it up into a pony tail, her pale yellow sweater rising with the action to reveal her stomach.

"Okay, I think I have everything," Hermione lowered her arms, mentally checking off her list of things to pack. _Shoes, underwear, toothbrush_... "Yup, good to go!"

"Great!" Parvati grabbed Hermione's luggage and marched the group through the door and down the hallway. Hermione barely had enough time to say goodbye to Ginny and wish her a good weekend before Parvati came back down the hall and yanked her out of the apartment.

An hour an a half later, Hermione was sitting in the waiting area in front of their gate, listening to Minerva yell at Parvati and Fleur. She sighed and tried to get more comfortable in the hard blue plastic had managed to check in and make it through security in under 45 minutes and had made it to the gate well before their plane had, much to Fleur's extreme and vocal annoyance. Parvati and Fleur had started yelling at each other in the waiting area, and Minerva had stepped in before security could kick them all out.

"Look, you two had better get along this weekend. One more fight like that and both of you will be on a plane home within an hour!" Minerva glared at Parvati and Fleur, eyes flashing dangerously. The two could work perfectly when at the office, since they were on opposite sides of the building from each other and rarely interacted, but putting them together was just asking for trouble. Minerva was glaring angrily at the two of them and looked close to breathing fire, her nostril flaring. Knowing just how scary she could be when riled, Parvati and Fleur both muttered apologies to each other before slinking off in opposite directions.

Minerva sat next to Hermione, her tall frame plunking rather ungracefully down next to her in the row of plastic chairs. Her grey hair had come out of its usual severe bun and the older lady looked tired.

"Are you alright Minerva?" Hermione asked her, concerned. She reached out a hand to pat the other woman on the back, consoling her.

"Yes yes," she replied, tucking the errant strands of greying hair back into the bun they had escaped from. "I just cannot stand those two constantly bickering! I swear the CEO was out of his mind to insist they both come. What the hell is up with Parvati? I've never seen her so wound up!"

"She's excited because there will be famous people. Specifically, male famous people," Hermione replied, smiling.

"No, specifically Draco Malfoy male famous people!" Parvati chimed in, stars in her brown eyes. She had returned from a brief walk and was now clearly dreaming very naughty things in the middle of a crowded airport. Hermione rolled her eyes.

Parvati had some thing for this Draco Malfoy. Hermione had heard of him of course, and had probably seen one of his movies. She scrunched up her nose in thought. Had she? No face came to mind when Parvati mentioned his name. Hermione did not generally watch a lot of movies and most of the actors these days seemed to look the same.

"You know..." Parvati began, "Since he WILL be at the after party, maybe w-" Minerva cut her off.

"Parvati, you had better treat this weekend like a plane ride. Keep all arms and legs inside and _to yourself _at all time. The last thing we need is publicity on you sexually harassing some poor unsuspecting celebrity."

"Wouzzant zat be just great? A sex toy company sued for zexual harazzment!" Fleur laughed as she rejoined them, pulling her rolling carry on behind her. She held a magazine in one hand and was eying Parvati with distaste.

Parvati looked mutinous. "I wasn't going to sexually harass him!" she yelled. Several heads in the waiting area turned to stare, intrigued by their topic of discussion. Minerva and Hermione gave Parvati a disbelieving look and made shushing motions. Minerva looked frantically around as if security was rushing up to them at that very moment.

"I was just going to pinch his bottom a little bit," she admitted sheepishly. Minerva looked like she was going to have a stroke.

"Look! Our flight is up!" Hermione said hastily, standing and grabbing Parvati by the arm. She hurried towards the gate, looking over her shoulder just in case, hoping they would all survive this weekend without someone killing, or arresting, Parvati.

*******

"What about this one?"

Draco sighed. He was out shopping with his good friend Goyle for a suit for tomorrow's awards. Goyle managed to turn every shopping trip in a three-hour excursion. He swore the man was either gay or a female in disguise. No man should spend more than ten minutes in one store to pick out, try on, and purchase clothing.

They were now on their 8th? 9Th? Store? Draco had lost count after five. The one they were currently in was a classy looking place done in tones of black and red with too much metal and glass for his taste. It was cold and aloof; although he may be distant to the media, he was definitely a hot-blooded male. He wasn't so sure about his friend though; no man should know as much about clothing as Goyle did.

He reminded himself that the reason he had asked Goyle along was because the man knew what he was talking about when it came to fashion. He was constantly followed by the paparazzi, who sold the photos to the fashion magazines for their issues on "stars with style". Goyle knew all the fashion desingers, famous and up and coming, and loved to shop. Draco wasn't entirely sure if Goyle was capable of reading, but he sure had style.

He eyed the other man's fashionable outfit of tailored black trousers, green dress shirt, and matching accessories. Draco looked at his own outfit of jeans and a white t-shirt and decided he didn't really care anymore about fashion.

"It's so...grey," Draco finally muttered.

"Grey is good! Your eyes are grey! It will make the ladies swoon," Goyle cajoled. Draco rolled his supposedly swoon-worthy eyes.

"I could show up in a burlap sack and the ladies would swoon," he complained. "They might find that more appealing since it's easier to remove." He grinned perversely to himself.

Goyle raised his eyebrows at his friend. "True, but I think the media would have a field day if you showed up in a potato sack. What about this one? Less grey, more black." Goyle showed him a black tuxedo that looked to Draco like ever other black suit in the place.

"Sure," he didn't really care anymore. All he wanted right now was to go home and take a nap. And maybe eat some cheesies. Shopping was exhausting.

Goyle eyed him critically. "If you don't really care them we are going with the grey one. Come on, it will give you a bunch of ladies to flirt with; you need a good flirt."

He was definitely going to eat some cheesies and wipe them all over his shirt, just to piss Goyle off. Draco wondered briefly if his friend was psychic._ I am going to throttle you,_ he thought over and over for a few seconds. When Goyle continued to stare at him, waiting for a response while he held up the grey suit, Draco decided his thoughts were probably safe.

"Alright, grey it is," he agreed, hoping they were finished for the day. He reached to take the suit from his friend.

"Excellent. What shade?" Goyle drawled, pulling the suit out of reach. "And we will also need a tie, shoes, and maybe a watch if you don't have one."

_FUCK! Will this never end?! _Goyle turned back, smiling at him.

"You can strangle me later, Draco," he practically sang, waltzing over to a silvery rack full of dark coloured ties.

_**FUCK!**_

*********

The four women landed in L.A a few hours later without further incident, though this could have been due to Fleur and Parvati's seats being on opposite ends of the plane...and copious amounts of alcohol on Minera's part.

After finding their hotel, a fancy Hilton that Hermione suspected one night would cost half her month's rent, they unpacked and settled in. Hermione, who was sharing a room with Parvati, briefly called her parents to let them know she was safe. She had called them on her cell phone, not trusting herself not to break the gold phone on the night table beside the bed on her side of the room. Hermione turned to ask Parvati a question, but one look at the other girl and she completely forgot what she was going to ask.

Parvati was staring at herself in a full-length mirror beside the other bed, face screwed up in concentration, hands pulling her long black hair out to the side as far as it would go. She frowned and shook her head slightly, dropping her hair, then vigorously rubbed her hands on top of her head and struck a sexy pose.

"Parvati, what on earth are you doing?" Hermione asked, almost afraid of the answer. Parvati whirled to face her, hair in tangles and eyes wide. Hermione involuntarily took a step back.

"What do you think I'm doing?"Parvati asked, her tone implying Hermione was the crazy one. Instead of answering, Hermione was trying to calculate if she could make it past Parvati and through the door without the crazy woman catching her.

"I'm thinking about my hair style for tomorrow!" Parvati told her finally when Hermione didn't answer or move for a while. She turned back to the mirror and tried a different pose, sticking a jean-clad leg out in front of her and puffing out her chest.

Hermione briefly debated Parvati's mental stability and whether it would be safe to sleep in the same room as her. Deciding that she was definitely crazy and probably needed a straight jacket, she was also harmless and _probably_ wouldn't put a pillow over her face while Hermione was sleeping.

"Did you want to come with me to get the gift bags for tomorrow night?" Hermione asked tentatively, wondering if this was a good idea. Knowing Parvati, the first person to ask questions about what they were carting would get a face full of vibrators. Hermione grabbed her leather purse and slipped on her flats while she waited for an answer.

"Sure! Maybe we will spot some stars on our way!" she sighed dramatically, quickly brushing her hair into a glossy shine. "Maybe a handsome one will sweep me off my feet!"

She swooned and fell into Hermione's arms, which had originally been reaching for the closet to retrieve her jacket. Hermione looked down into Parvati's star-filled eyes...and dropped her.

"Oomph! What was that for?!" Parvati exclaimed from her position on the floor. She glared at Hermione while laying sprawled on the white carpet, black hair fanned out in stark contrast to the posh hotel-style floor.

"Get your head out of clouds," Hermione admonished. "We have work to do! We're not even at the Oscars yet and you're drooling."

The two headed to the warehouse located in L.A, one of the company's major distribution centres, after saying a quick goodbye to Minerva and Fleur, who were unpacking in an equally nice hotel room and chatting amiably about the pros and cons of traveling with sex toys. Hermione's hair was frizzy with the heat outside and she quickly retied her ponytail while Parvati hailed a cab.

The two hopped into the blue cab and gave the driver directions, making conversation on the way to the warehouse. Parvati was recounting her latest failed date, to which Hermione listened politely and looked appropriately sympathetic.

"Yeah, but he wasn't that cute anyway," Parvati concluded her story. "What about you? Seeing anyone since Ron?" Parvati had heard all about Hermione dating one of her close high school friends and how there hadn't been any real chemistry after a while. Parvati thought that was too bad; Ron had been very sweet, always bringing her flowers and blushing when he looked at Hermione. It had been nice to see her with a gentleman after hearing about that psycho she had been dating before.

"No," Hermione answered. "No one has quite...struck my fancy, I guess. I'm not really into tall, dark, and handsome, and that's all New York seems to have to offer so far."

"Yeah, I can imagine that brings up bad memories," Parvati acknowledged sagely, thinking of what she had heard about that psycho. "Speaking of which, how is that going? The renewal is coming up, isn't it?"

Hermione nodded, smoothing her dark skirt nervously. "Yeah, a month from now. Harry is working pretty hard on it, though it looks like it won't be too hard to get it renewed. There's enough evidence."

Parvati nodded. She noticed Hermione's tone and wisely dropped the subject. Hermione turned to look out thew window of the cab, noting the tall buildings they were passing that looked very similar to those in New York. Shiny metal reflected the warm sun, making it much more bright and airy than the cramped streets of her home city. The climate was warm and breezy in the City of the Angels, compared to the cool and damp of New York that she was use to.

"So, how many gift bags do we have again?"

Hermione was grateful for the change in subject and gladly continued chatting. As crazy and insane as Parvati might be, she was still a good friend and knew when not to pry.

"We're here, ladies," the cabbie announced a few minutes later. Hermione asked the man to wait for a few moments while they slipped inside to collect the boxes.

Three large boxes and an annoyed cabbie later, the girls were back at the hotel. A bus boy came to their aid with a rolling trolley and helped them get the boxes into the elevator, rolling the non-descript brown cardboard boxes silently across the smooth marble floors.

Once the golden doors to the elevator closed, the sudden silence made a slight buzzing sound very apparent. Hermione and Parvati, realizing one of the products must have turned on from all of the jostling, ignored the sound. This was not an unusual occurrence, and they could turn it off later when there was room to dismantle one of the boxes.

The bus boy, however, shifted uncomfortably and looked between the girls and the boxes. "Is one of your cell phones buzzing?" he asked hopefully.

Hermione looked at Parvati. The bus boy had to be in his late teens, early twenties, and therefore would definitely know what a vibrator was. For those who worked in the industry, things like this did not even register on the radar of embarrassment. For an outsider, however...

Parvati grinned and looked at the bus boy. "Nope!" she chirped. He turned to Hermione with raised eyebrows. She shook her head, trying to contain a smile.

"Oh, uh, then one of your boxes is, er, vibrating," the young man started blushing.

"That's because its full of vibrators," Parvati informed him matter-of-factly.

"W-what?" the poor young man stuttered. "I think I heard you w-"

"Well, we need lots of vibrators, you see," Parvati whispered like she was imparting a great secret. "It's polite to give those you invite to your orgies something to take home."

The elevator doors opened on their floor and Parvati took the trolley from the poor bus boy, who was tomato-red and looking anywhere but them.

"We can take it from here!" she sang, and wheeled the trolley with the vibrating box down the hall. Hermione smiled apologetically at the boy before handing him a five dollar bill.

"For your trouble," she told him, before following Parvati down the glossy hallway with a grin.

********

"Okay, I think I'm done torturing you for the day," Goyle glanced at a very wan-looking Draco, whose shoulders were slumped under the weight of the suit, shoes, and accessories bags he was carrying. His short pale blonde hair was mussed from trying on various suits and shirts and undershirts, and he looked like he just wanted to lay down on the sidewalk and pass out.

"You will be good to go for tomorrow night. Just remember to keep a smile on and think of naked ladies!" he chirped.

"If I think of naked ladies all night the media is going to have a bigger frenzy over my pants than they would over a burlap sack," Draco drawled. Goyle smiled.

"Very true my friend! So think of ladies in general, not naked. Though I'm sure by the end of the night you will have seen your fair share of naked ladies if you really wanted to," Goyle smiled coyly, looking at his friend out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm quite sure I could, if I really wanted to," he agreed. Somehow it wasn't as appealing as flirting with a bunch of them and leaving them hanging. Women were too easy to sleep with in Los Angeles, especially when you're a fairly well know star.

They stopped outside of the shop they had just exited, having completed their purchases for the day. Draco looked around, disoriented and completely unsure of where he had parked in relation to where they were. They had been in and out of so many stores and he had tried on so many different items he was surprised he knew where his balls were, let alone his car.

"This way," Goyle marched confidently in the direction where they had left the cars. Draco followed dutifully, lugging his bags with him, still slightly hunched over. _Yes master,_ he thought uncharitably, _Igor lives to serve._

An hour later Draco was home in his lavish apartment, watching an episode of some TV show he wasn't even sure he knew of the name of. His mind had been drifting to the awards show tomorrow, during which he would be accepting an award for Best Supporting Actor for the movie that released late last year. He was hoping his upcoming release, _A Candle in the Wind_, would win him Best Actor next year.

He knew his mother would be there tomorrow; she had told him last week she would fly in for the ceremony and fly out the same night. She was much too busy to contemplate staying the night – he was surprised she was coming at all with her schedule. Narcissa Malfoy had taken over his father's oil business upon his death three years ago and had spent all her time on nothing else. She hadn't batted an eye when he said he wanted nothing to do with the company and was instead pursuing acting. He suspected she wanted the company all to herself, but as far as he was concerned, she could have it.

He drifted off to sleep on the couch, the TV still playing the episode.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I updated the first two chapters with a lot more description overall and fixed an error or two – no plot changes though, so you are not required to go back and read them. I'll try and be more descriptive from here on out – I know what it looks like in my mind, I just need to communicate it!

VVVVVVVV

The four women attempted to sleep in the next day, nestled into large, fluffy white beds and cozy pajamas. With the time change between New York and Los Angeles, however, it proved to be quite difficult, no matter how comfortable the beds. Hermione was debating whether or not to give up on attempting to sleep and start her day when Minerva suddenly burst into their room yelling about orgies and hotel staff.

Parvati, who had been snoozing peacefully in the other bed the room was furnished with, sat bolt upright and yelled something about pancakes. Minerva, temporarily derailed, stared at her, speechless.

"Er...were we not talking about pancakes?" Parvati hesitated, looking to Hermione for help. Her matching green and red pajamas were crumpled from sleep and her black hair stood out at odd angles. Hermione thought she looked like a demented Christmas tree.

"You two told a bus boy that we were planning on having some massive orgy, and now the hotel has restricted our guest allotment!" Minerva recovered long enough to glare at the two half-awake women, waving her arms about and almost spitting fire. She hadn't bothered to get dressed once the hotel manager had called her room, waking her from a deep sleep with the news. Her pale blue dressing gown swished back and forth with her violent gestures.

"Oh. Definitely not pancakes then." Parvati lost interest in the conversation and proceeded to snuggle back down into her bed. Minerva looked like she was going to have a stroke.

"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" she demanded in disbelief. Parvarti was already snoring.

She rounded on Hermione who shrunk visibly back into the pillows, trying to appear as small as possible.

"It was a joke?" she ventured, terrified.

"He didn't seem to think so! The poor boy looked as though he was going to burst into flames at any moment!" Minerva thought of the red-faced male when he recounted the elevator conversation to her and the hotel manager. Minerva wasn't sure who the more embarrassed party was during that conversation; the manager or the boy.

"Well," Hermione ventured, "that's not a big problem, Minerva. None of us were planning on bringing in overnight guests in the first place. They can restrict the guest access all they like; we won't be bringing anyone in."

Minerva eyed Parvati, who had woken back up and was now innocently whistling and staring at the suddenly magnificent ceiling. "Still," she remarked, glaring at Parvati, whom she was not so sure would not try and kidnap some poor male celebrity, "no more 'jokes'. I do not want the press getting a hold of anything but positives while we are here. Understand?"

Hermione nodded in agreement and noticed Parvati failed to do the same. Minerva, who had been looking at Hermione, didn't notice Parvati's failure to agree. "Good, now get dressed. I thought you two wanted to do some shopping?"

She turned and left the room, exasperated but satisfied nothing else would happen. Hermione glanced at Parvati, who seemed completely unconcerned about what had just transpired. She had jumped out of bed the moment the door closed behind Minerva and was now rummaging through her large black luggage for something to wear.

"Shotgun the shower!" she said, grinning at Hermione and racing into the bathroom with a pair of jeans and a yellow shirt. She snagged a towel from the closet and shut the door behind her. Hermione flopped back down onto the fluffy white bed and shut her eyes with a sigh. Might as well get a few more minutes of sleep while she could. She had a feeling it would be a long day with Parvati.  
_  
Eight shopping bags, seven stores, six harassed-looking saleswomen, five hours, four souvenirs, and three pairs of shoes_, _two women,_ Hermione mentally sang her version of the 12 days of Christmas. The two women were hurrying back to the hotel to prepare for the after party, which was commencing in six hours.  
_  
And one faint_, Hermione remembered. Parvati had spectacularly fainted at the sight of the famous Blaise Zambini, keeling over in directly into a make-up display. Cosmetics and accessories had gone in all directions while the poor woman lay unconscious in the middle of the crowded high-end store. Thankfully no paramedics were needed, as she regained consciousness after a few minutes. Unfortunately for Hermione, she hadn't stopped talking about Zambini since. Hermione wasn't even sure it _had_ been Zambini; then again, she didn't know celebrities nearly as well as Parvati.

"He was soooo dreamy!" Parvati sighed for the fiftieth time that afternoon. Hermione grabbed the daydreaming Parvati from the middle of the crosswalk and dragged her to safety on the sidewalk. She could see the hotel just down the block, the air shimmering with heat.

"Parvati, could you stop dreaming about Zamboni for five minutes until we are in the hotel? We need to get ready and get over to the after party for the set up!"

"It's ZambIni, not ZambOni," Parvati corrected before launching into an explanation of the history of the man's last name. Hermione wondered if the hotel staff would lend her some duct tape for Parvati's mouth.

An hour and a half later, the four women headed downstairs to the ballroom to help set up and get ready for the after party. Hermione had managed to get Parvati back down to earth by asking the hotel staff for duct tape right in front of her. Parvati amazingly got the hint and settled down to business.

They set up their table and unpacked the gift bags. Fleur began to stack them into a graceful pyramid shape; the white bags and blue tissue paper contrasting nicely with each other. Parvati set up a few chairs before wandering off to help the staff members with other set-up tasks. Hermione had just finished counting their gift bags when she noticed Minerva was missing.

"Fleur, have you seen Minerva?"

Fleur shook her head, long silver hair swaying back and forth. She was wearing a lovely blue dress that was tight on top and loose on the bottom. Hermione thought she looked like a model and told her so.

"Zank you!" Fleur smiled at her before returning to arranging the bags.

Hermione stepped out from behind their table, straightening the black cloth that covered it. She scanned the room and frowned when she still did not see Minerva. Her black heels clicked as she walked across the room, hailing Parvati.

"What's up?" Parvati asked.

"Have you seen Minerva? I haven't seen her since shortly after we arrived." Hermione asked, concerned.

"Oh yeah, she left about ten minutes ago. She wasn't feeling well – I think it might be food poisoning," Parvati added, matching Hermione's expression. "She said we would be fine from here on out though; we just have to hand out the bags and smile for the most part. She said it was probably a good thing, since no one really wants a wrinkled old lady giving them a vibrator. Her words, not mine!" she added defensively when Hermione scowled at her.

"Alright. Did you tell her to call if she got worse?"

"Of course. She's got all our cell numbers. We may not be able to hear them once it starts though, so check yours every once in a while."

Hermione nodded and headed back over to Fleur to relay the message. Fleur nodded and looked worried.

"Is everything okay?" Hermione asked, concerned at her expression.

"'es of courze, eets just, we ate at ze same place today," she admitted. "I 'ope I don't get what she 'as!"

Hermione smiled reassuringly. "Well, chances are it would have already presented itself, since you ate at the same time and you're not sick." Fleur nodded.

The two continued stacking and arranging the bags until all of them were ready to go. They had two small pyramids on each end of the table and two much larger ones behind them against the wall. They have placed a few artistically between the stacks on the four-foot long table and the rest were in shallow boxes underneath.

"How much time do we have?" Hermione asked.

"Two hours. The Oscars have are half over." Parvati replied, eyes glued to the TV the hotel employees had brought in to gauge how much time they had left until stars arrived.

Hermione sighed. It was going to be a long night.

VVVVVVVVV

Draco squirmed uncomfortably in his plush red chair, ignoring as the rest of the audience applauded whoever was accepting the latest award. _This infernal suit is so fucking itchy. I'm going to murder Goyle._

Draco tried to occupy himself with thoughts of exactly how he would kill his friend, but he couldn't stop scratching and he was starting to attract attention. His mother, seated beside him and wearing soft, black silk that was shaped in a respectable way for a woman in her late forties, glared at him briefly before resuming her indifferent expression suited for the camera.

He knew that look. It meant 'You are embarrassing me, but I'm not going to draw more public attention to this fact. Stop it.' He waited until she made eye contact again before deliberately scratching his crotch. She gave him a look that implied his eminent demise.

Busy itching, he missed when his nomination appeared on the screen. He had been ignoring the presenter, a luscious blonde showing far too much skin, after she had presented one of his friends in the industry, Blaize Zambini, with an award for something to do with voice acting. Draco vaguely remembered him doing a bit for an animated movie last year.

Grey eyes finally noticed when him and the three others nominated for the same award were shown on the screen, divided into four separate shots. Two of the other actors were males he didn't know; the third rival for the award was a striking female with a skin-tight red dress and legs up to her neck. He didn't know who she was...yet. Ceasing his scratching immediately, he smiled charmingly at the camera and winked, hoping the black-haired beauty in the red dress saw.

"And now, the winner of the Best Supporting Actor award for 2013 is..." the actress paused for effect, allowing the drum roll to keep everyone in suspense as she removed the card from the thick white envelope. Draco was wondering how he would be able to see under that red dress.

"Draco Malfoy!" she announced with a smile.

Draco stood up with a smile and sauntered towards the stage, nodding at the polite clapping of his peers. Inwardly he was mooning the other three contestants and dancing around with his middle fingers up, but outwardly he remained professional...and a little smug.

His tall frame mounted the steps and gracefully took the golden award from the presenter. He winked at her and gave her a roguish smile, grey eyes twinkling. The presenter swooned.

"Thank you, thank you," he placed the heavy award on the podium with a clunk and cleared his throat to deliver his acceptance speech. He noticed that his mother was watching his every move with what looked like trepidation. He ignored her and focused on red dress, who he realized was staring at him was rage.

_So much for seeing under that dress._

"I'd like to thank..."

VVVVVVV

"God that voice! It's like melted chocolate and honey and handcuffs..." Parvati was reminiscing about one of the actors and their acceptance speech – Hermione had failed to grasp which one, as Parvati had been rambling about various men and their voices and/or looks since the Oscars had ended and the hotel staff had put away the TV.

"'andcuffs?" Fleur asked, raising a silvery eyebrow. "'ow does ones voice zound like 'andcuffs?"

Hermione gave Parvati a speculating look, wondering the same thing herself. Clearly, she had not been paying attention to her ramblings, which had just taken a turn for the more interesting.

Parvati sighed deeply with a look like she was dealing with simpletons. "You know...sexy, strong, and kinda kinky. I bet he has the sexiest voice between the sheets." she frowned and leaned forward in her chair, staring out across the lavish blue and gold decorated ballroom. "I hope he visits our table."

Fleur rolled her eyes. "Well, you weel know in about ten minutez," she reminded Parvati, pointing at the clock at the far end of the vast room. "Zey will be arriving 'oon."

"Sooner than that," Hermione remarked, pointing towards the small group of people who began to enter through the large double doors that had been propped open for the occasion. "Looks like the first guests are already here."

"Oh my god!" Parvati squealed. "Is that Hannah Abott?!"

Hermione looked at Fleur and the two sighed in unison. It was going to be a long night.

VVVVVVV

A/N: Oooh, they are about to meet!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: The much awaited moment is here!

VVVVVVV

Draco sauntered into the ballroom of whatever hotel was hosting the after party tonight. He'd been to a few of these before and they were mostly the same; models and actresses fawning over those who had won awards, the latest-and-greatest expensive products lined up in gift bags for celebrities to take home (and hopefully endorse), and plenty of food and booze to go around. The only difference was the tonight some of those models and actresses would be fawning over _him._

He accepted a glass of wine from one of the wait staff, a pretty brunette with a sexy smile. He winked at her before turning towards one of the tables; an expensive jewelry store showing their latest designs. He eyed a Rolex for a few minutes before Blaize caught up with.

"Hey! Congratulations," Blaize offered with a lazy smile.

"You too," Draco smirked back at him. "Children's movie, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. My agent said it would be good for my image," he shrugged.

Draco grinned. "Well it has to be better than that porno you did a few months ago."

"It wasn't a porno!" Blaize took a half-hearted swing at Draco, who ducked, laughing. "It was a historically accurate drama I will have you know!"

"Yeah, with lots of nude shots of you and that chick...what was her name?"

Blaize ignored him, distracted by something over his shoulder. "Is that...what I think it is?"

Draco turned, his glass of wine wobbling dangerously. He frowned, not seeing what his friend was. "What?"

"The table...does that say 'Internal Solutions'?" Blaize asked, trying not to laugh.

"Probably. Why?"

Blaize started laughing disbelievingly. "That's a vibrator company!" He exclaimed loudly. A few people turned to stare.

Draco grabbed his friend around the shoulders and towed him towards the table, crossing the black-tiled floor. "Well, lets go see shall we? The ladies manning the table look like they could use some company." He winked.

Blaize grinned. This was going to be fun.

VVVVVVV

Hermione smiled and handed a pretty blonde wearing a tight lime green dress one of the gift bags.

"Enjoy!" she said brightly. The blonde smiled shyly back before hightailing it away from the table.

"God's geeft to wumen at 'elve o'clock." Fleur muttered to Hermione, nodding to the two men approaching. They were smirking at the two women and talking to each other. One was very tall and dark with a lean, handsome face. He was wearing a black suit and red shirt and smiling very suggestively at Fleur.

Fleur cast a withering look at Parvati before fixing a polite smile on her face. Parvati had taken one look at the first man through the door and had been completely useless. She sat behind Hermione and Fleur drooling over any male specimen that walked by and occasionally muttering to herself.

The second man was slightly shorter, though not by much, and was fair where the other was dark. He was pale blonde with a grey suit and an smarmy expression. Hermione thought they were both very attractive, but then so was every other movie star there.

She picked up a gift bag and smiled to greet the men as they approached the table. The blonde man came towards her and placed a hand on the table, while the dark one went for Fleur. The blonde leaned towards her, looking her up and down.

"You're gorgeous," he said, then smiled and raised an eyebrow, winking.

While flattered, Hermione was not so easily impressed. Giving him a polite smile, she offered the bag to him in a professional manner, holding it at arm's length from across the table. "Thank you. Sample?"

The man's eyebrows twitched slightly at her complete brush off of his compliment. Hermione mentally grinned. He was cute, but perhaps a little too confident.

"I'd rather sample you," his tone was deeper this time and heavily suggestive. He put both hands on the table and lifted himself up to sit on it, leaning towards her until there was less than a foot of space between them.

Hermione brought the bag back towards her and narrowed her eyes dangerously. Her smile faded.

"I am not for sampling. You can take a vibrator, buddy, or you can leave."

She noticed his eyes were a soft grey when they popped open in surprise.

VVVVVVV

He had noticed she was attractive as they had moved closer and had unconsciously drifted towards her as Blaize narrowed in on the platinum blonde. She was wearing a flowing, loose green dress that highlighted her brown curls wonderfully. Once directly in front of him, she was strikingly beautiful – deep brown eyes, kissable lips, and a sexy smile directed right at him.

"You're gorgeous," he blurted out. He hadn't meant to say it, but couldn't stop himself in time. _Smooth_, he thought sarcastically to himself. He decided to try and go with it anyway and laid on the charm, winking.

She smiled politely, but didn't blush or giggle like he had been expecting. She responded in a very businesslike manner, offering him the goodie bag and nothing else. He had not been expecting a complete disregard to his approach – most women would have swooned had he said that to them! He was Draco Malfoy for goodness sake!

Maybe she was playing hard to get. He turned on his panty-wetting voice. "I'd rather sample you," he told her, before seating himself on the table between them, leaning closer.

Definitely not playing judging by her narrowed eyes and scowl, he decided. His eyes widened in surprise when she told him off. He couldn't remember having been told off since he had come into the limelight.

He decided he needed to regroup with Blaize and try again. He glanced over at his buddy, who was clearly not having any better luck than he was. He gave the sassy brunette in front of him a smile before standing back up. He reached over and plucked the bag from her outstretched hand.

"Thanks," he tried an award-winning smile once more, wanting to leave on a good note. She turned instantly professional and offered him another polite smile before telling him to enjoy the sample. He bit back the reply that he would enjoy it much more if she would join him later in his hotel room. Clearly that kind of approach was not going to work.

VVVVVV

Fleur was furious. At least, Hermione thought she was furious. She wasn't entirely sure, as the irate woman had now lapsed into her mother tongue and was muttering what sounded suspiciously like elaborate French curses under her breath.

Parvati snapped out of her daze long enough to hand out a few samples while Fleur took a few moments to calm down. Hermione kept one eye on Fleur to make sure she didn't explode and another on Parvati to make sure she didn't assault anyone.

After a half hour, Fleur had calmed down enough to start handing out bags again. Hermione took a quick break, sitting down in the chair Parvati had been drooling in earlier. She was sipping a small coffee and watching the crowd of rich and famous when Parvati suddenly squealed.

"Ooo! He's coming back!"

Hermione looked in the direction Parvati was pointing, wondering exactly who was returning. They didn't allow duplicate samples, but she doubted that would stop anyone from trying, especially when the girls were taking turns handing the bags out. Not to mention the fact that Parvati had been practically comatose for the first hour.

She was pointing at that blonde from earlier, practically quivering with excitement. Though the majority of the males present were clad in various suits and tuxes, he was really the only blonde one. _Or maybe the only blonde worth noticing_, she thought absently. Hermione groaned and tried to make herself look as small as possible. She hoped he was returning to talk to Parvati instead – it would save her and make Parvati's night._ Though come to think of it, Parvati would probably fall for his nonsense. _Hermione frowned and stood up, intending to take Parvati's place.

Too late, she realized standing up caused him to spot her and side step the table so he was standing right next to her. Hermione gave him a disinterested look, forgoing the smile in hopes he would leave quickly.

"Hi. I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Draco," he smiled a genuine smile this time, not the smarmy smile from before she noticed. "And you are?" He offered his hand to shake.

She hesitated slightly, still wary that he might turn back into the pervert at any moment. Hermione cautiously slipped a delicate hand into his, shaking it. "Hermione," she offered.

"Her-my-oh-nee," he appeared to be tasting her name, the way his liquid silk voice tried it out. On someone other than the raging lecher in front of her, Hermione would find that highly arousing. When he didn't say anything else, Hermione got impatient.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she asked as politely as possible. She was tired and starting to get cranky. It was after midnight!

"Well Hermione," he wasn't letting go of her hand, she noticed, "There is. I was wondering what you were planning on doing after this." He gestured with his free hand to the room, waving off an Oscar party as though 'this' was not really the important part of the evening.

"Sleeping," she replied, wondering vaguely where her coffee had gotten to.

"What? But that's no fun! Aren't you going to an after party?" he seemed incredulous that she would miss such an event. After all, the after party is supposedly where all the fun took place. Hermione debated telling him that she wasn't really into that kind of fun and even if she wasn't dead tired, she wouldn't want to go to an after party anyway. Deciding against it, she shook her head.

"I've been working all evening. I want some sleep." While true, it was also a much more reasonable denial of his request.

"But that's boring!" he protested, smiling. Hermione raised her eyebrows and finally managed to extract her hand.

"Then I'm boring," she shrugged, a small smile on her lips. She was _not_ a party girl. She turned her back to him and located her misplaced coffee on the ground beside her chair, bending over to pick it up. She hoped he would be gone when she sat back down. She closed her eyes, turned, and sat. Brown eyes opened to find his crotch level with her eyes and only a foot and a half away. Blushing slightly, she tried to hide it by looking up at him impatiently.

"Breakfast, then," he suggested, persisting. She sighed.

His persistence told her he was interested, but she didn't want a one night stand. She wasn't sure she wanted anything, what with the court case coming up. Then again, a breakfast date was less likely to lead to anything, and she was flying out at noon tomorrow anyway. He was also pretty cute.

"Breakfast," she agreed. "Eight am. You can pick the place."

She noticed he had quite a dazzling smile, when it was genuine.

VVVVVV

"Not a problem. I know just the place. I can pick you up at 8 on the dot. Where are you staying?"

He was very pleased she had agreed to breakfast. Sure, that meant less chance of sleeping with her, but he might be able to figure something out. He was enjoying the challenge immensely.

"I'm staying here. You can pick me up in the lobby tomorrow morning."

"Perfect. I'll see you then." He gave her one last smile before walking off. Now, to find another drink and Blaize, in that order.

VVVVVV


End file.
